Friend Request

To be positively affected in any relationship, there will be adjustments made where needed when the heart of the other person is discovered. Rather than becoming offended by a conflicting preference, pleasure is found in making changes that will comply.

Psalms 33:12 (NIV)
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

Jeremiah 6:10-17 (NIV)
10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

13 "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD.
16 This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'|
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But you said, 'We will not listen.'

As part of our Father’s likeness in which we are created is a desire and need for relationship. How this is met has to do with our own preferences - appearance, interests, ethnicity, etc. Social media has capitalized on this need, providing endless opportunities for “relationships”. It has become very easy to accept and reject them at will without any regard for commitment or loyalty. What seems to be favorable can be embraced while anything that might require any discomfort or personal adjustment can be easily discarded. While this is a new means for this to occur, it is really just an expansion on something that has been a tendency from the beginning. For there to really be a relationship more than an accepted “friend request’, there will need to be a mutual interest in actively caring for each other’s needs and desires. This requires listening and responding to their expressions.

When it comes to listening and responding to the cries of those He desires to have relationship, our Father God has more than fulfilled His part. For every area of need in our lives, in Christ He has provided the exact solution. He passionately desires for relationship with each of us and has committed Himself to always answering, being there, and responding to our needs. All He is in need of in return is something greater than an just an answered “friend request”. He has more than demonstrated His love and care for us, and now for there to be relationship with Him, it is all up to us in how we demonstrate our care for Him and His desires in return.

His Word has very clear expressions of His heart’s desire for us, and all of it is good. Like any good Father He provides protection from any harm and provision for any need. He has the only way for them to be truly found. Like trying to communicate in a crowded restaurant, however, it is only the voices that are the nearest and loudest that ever get heard. When you find the one you really want to hear and respond to, there will be escape from the noise to a place of solitude, where only that one voice can be heard and all attention given to it. His voice is continually speaking, but there must be separation from the noise for it to be heard.

To be positively affected in any relationship, there will be adjustments made where needed when the heart of the other person is discovered. Rather than becoming offended by a conflicting preference, pleasure is found in making changes that will comply. For this to happen, however, the clear representation of that preference needs to be made. If it is misrepresented and misunderstood, though there may be a true desire to please, misunderstanding will disable any ability to do so. If all that is heard is that everything is fine and peaceful, then necessary adjustments will never be made.

Relationship with the Father, then, will include: active discovery of His preferences with a high priority of conforming to them; hearing His voice communicating His will in a place that is separated from the noise; and not being satisfied with representations of His heart that have no adjustment requirements. His great delight and continual pursuit is relationship with His children. Though there is assurance of blessing beyond imagination for those who respond to His choice of us, to experience that blessing will require much more than a simple accepted “friend request”.

Psalms 147:10-11 (NIV)
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.